Save Yourself Some Pain
A Guide for New Christians
Becoming a Christian is the most incredible event that will ever take place in your life. You have found peace with your Creator. You have found everlasting life! Be assured—God will never leave you nor forsake you.
Let's now look at some important principles that can save you a great deal of pain as you begin your journey with Christ.
Do you have "assurance" of your salvation? The Bible says to "make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10). Let's go through a short checklist:
- Are you aware that God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14), and that He died for the sins of the world?
- Did you come to the Savior because you had sinned?
- Did you "repent" and put your faith in Jesus?
- Are you convinced that He suffered and died on the Cross and that He rose again on the third day?
God acquits us from the Courtroom of Eternal Justice on the grounds that Jesus Christ paid our fine. We are "justified" (made right with God) by His suffering death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was God's seal of approval.
Think of it this way: You have violated the law and face a $50,000 fine. The judge can only acquit you if the fine is paid. If someone else pays your fine, then he can let you go, but he must have "grounds" on which to release you.
If you're not sure of your salvation, make Psalm 51 your own prayer.
A healthy baby has a healthy appetite. If you have truly been "born" of the Spirit of God, you will have a healthy appetite for His Word.
Feed yourself every day without fail. Job said, "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12).
Make this commitment: "No Bible, no breakfast. No read, no feed."
Each day, find somewhere quiet and thoroughly soak your soul in the Word of God. There may be times when you read with great enthusiasm, and other times when it seems dry. But food profits your body whether you enjoy it or not.
The more you eat, the quicker you will grow. If you do this, God promises that you will be like a fruitful, strong and healthy tree (see Psalm 1).
When someone says "I find it hard to have faith in God," they don't realize that we exercise faith every day. We trust weather forecasts, newspapers, pilots, brakes, history books, and elevators. Yet elevators can let us down. History books can be wrong. Planes can crash.
How much more should we trust the sure and true promises of Almighty God?
The Bible says, "He who does not believe God has made Him a liar" (1 John 5:10). Martin Luther said, "What greater insult can there be to God, than not to believe His promises."
People say the Bible is full of mistakes and contradictions. For example, we're told "with God, nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37), yet also that it is "impossible for God to lie" (Hebrews 6:18).
The answer: Lying is so repulsive to God, so against His holy character, that the Scriptures draw on the strength of the word "impossible" to show He cannot lie. This means in a world where we are continually let down, we can totally rely on His promises.
His promises are sure, certain, true, trustworthy, reliable, faithful, unfailing, and steadfast. You can throw yourself blindfolded into His mighty hands. He will never let you down.
Imagine this scenario: You're looking at five sleeping children in a garage heated by an electric heater. You know that in minutes, the heater will burst into flames, blocking the only exit. Can you walk away in good conscience? No! You must awaken them and warn them!
The world sleeps peacefully in spiritual darkness. There is only one Door by which they may escape eternal death. What a fearful thing Judgment Day will be!
The Church has been entrusted with awakening them before it's too late. Charles Spurgeon said, "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that."
A Christian cannot be apathetic about the salvation of the world. The love of God will motivate us to seek and save that which is lost.
Important Advice for Witnessing to Loved Ones:
You have a limited time after your conversion to impact your unsaved friends and family. Don't act like a "wild bull in a crystal showroom." Don't bully people into making decisions without genuine conviction of sin.
- Fervently pray for them, thanking God for their salvation
- Let them see your faith through your actions
- Show genuine love, kindness, and gentleness
- Do chores without being asked. Give gifts for no reason
- Hold back from verbal confrontation until the right moment
- Wait for them to say "Tell me about your faith" rather than forcing conversations
Your loving actions will speak more loudly than ten thousand eloquent sermons. Pray for wisdom and sensitivity to God's timing.
Remember: You may be the answer to another Christian's earnest prayer for their loved one's salvation. You are a true and faithful witness that God wants to use.
God always answers prayer. Sometimes He says "Yes," sometimes "No," and sometimes "Wait." Remember, a day to the Lord is a thousand years to us (2 Peter 3:8).
How to be heard in prayer:
- Pray with faith (Hebrews 11:6)
- Pray with clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:3-4)
- Pray genuine heart-felt prayers, not vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7)
- Make sure you're praying to the God revealed in Scripture (Exodus 20:3-6)
Praying with Faith: When you have great faith in someone, you're actually complimenting them—their integrity, ability, and trustworthiness. Abraham "did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20-21).
As a child of God, you can boldly come before the throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16). Don't grovel—you have access to the King because you are a child of the King!
Example Prayer: "Father, thank you that you keep every promise You make. Your Word says that you will supply all my needs according to Your riches in glory, by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Therefore, I thank you that you will do this thing for my family. I ask this in the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen."
When you became a Christian, you stepped into an age-old battle. You have a three-fold enemy: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
1. The World: This refers to the sinful, rebellious world system that loves darkness and hates the light (John 3:20). The world is governed by the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4). Lust is the lifeblood of the world—whether for sexual sin, power, money, or material things. Don't feed lust. It will grow until it crushes you (James 1:15).
2. The Devil: He was your spiritual father before you joined God's family (John 8:44, Ephesians 2:2). Jesus called him a thief who came to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).
Overcome him by wearing the spiritual armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20). Become intimately familiar with it. Sleep in it. Never take it off.
3. The Flesh: This is your sinful nature. The battlefield is your mind. All sin begins in the heart (Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 15:19). We think before we sin.
The answer to sin is the fear of God. Knowledge of God's righteous judgments against evil should put the fear of God in us and help us not to indulge in sin.
One evidence that you have been truly saved is that you will have a love for other Christians (1 John 3:14). You will want to fellowship with them.
When choosing a church, look for:
- A place that calls sin what it is—sin
- Leaders who believe the promises of God
- A loving congregation
- A pastor who treats his wife with respect
- A pastor who is a man of the Word with a humble heart and gentle spirit
- Teaching that glorifies God, magnifies Jesus, and edifies believers
Don't become a "spiritual butterfly." Send your roots down. Your pastor will have to give an account for you (Hebrews 13:17), so make yourself known. Pray for your pastor, his wife, his family, and the elders regularly.
Being a pastor is no easy task. Give your pastor grace and double honor. Never murmur about him. If you don't like something, pray about it and leave it with God. If that doesn't satisfy you, leave the church rather than divide it.
Remember: God hates those who cause division among the brethren (Proverbs 6:16). "He that gossips to you, will gossip about you."
Pray with the psalmist: "Set a guard O Lord, over my mouth; keep the door of my lips."
For the Christian, every day should be Thanksgiving Day. We should be thankful even in the midst of problems. Paul said, "I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation" (2 Corinthians 7:4).
The Butterfly Lesson: A man once watched a butterfly struggling to escape its cocoon. To help, he slit the cocoon with a razor blade. The butterfly escaped... and immediately died.
The struggle causes the butterfly's heart to beat fast and send life's blood into its wings. Trials have their purpose. They make us struggle and bring us to our knees. They are the cocoon where faith's lifeblood helps us spread our wings.
Faith and thanksgiving are close friends. If you have faith in God, you will be thankful because you know His loving hand is upon you, even in the lion's den. This gives you deep joy.
Joy is the barometer of your faith in God. The amount of joy you have shows how much you believe God's promises.
We have so much to be thankful for. God has given us "exceeding great and precious promises" that are "more to be desired than gold." Believe those promises, thank God continually, and "let your joy be full."
There is no question as to whether you should be baptized. The questions are: How? When? By whom?
How: It seems clear from Scripture that believers were fully immersed in water. "And John was also baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there..." (John 3:23). If John was merely sprinkling believers, he would have only needed a cup of water.
When: The Philippian jailer and his family were baptized at midnight, as soon as they believed. So what are you waiting for?
By whom: Scripture shows that other believers had the privilege, but check with your pastor—he may want the honor himself.
It's been said that the wallet is the "last frontier"—the last thing that comes to God in surrender. But it should be the first, along with our surrendered heart.
Jesus said we cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). "Mammon" means "that which is to be trusted." Either money is our source of joy and security, or God is.
Guidelines for giving:
- Give with a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7)
- Give systematically and purposefully to your church
- Give in response to need (Acts 11:27-29)
- Give sacrificially (Galatians 2:10)
- Give in secret with a humble heart (Matthew 6:1-4)
Giving is a key to spiritual fruit (Luke 16:10-11). When you give, you demonstrate that God—not money—is your true source of security and joy.
The Heater Illustration: A little boy hears his father warn that a heater is hot. He believes it intellectually. But when his father leaves, he reaches out and grabs it. The second his flesh burns, he moves from belief to experience—he knows it's hot!
When an "expert" later tells him the heater isn't hot, the boy responds: "I don't care about your credentials. I know it's hot—I touched it! I'm not in the realm of belief, I'm in the realm of experience."
If you have touched the heater of God's love and forgiveness, if the Holy Spirit has "born witness" that you are a child of God (Romans 8:16), you will never be shaken by a skeptic.
When cults tell you that you must do certain things to be saved—worship on a certain day, be baptized by specific elders—don't panic. Go back to the Instruction Manual. The Bible has all the answers.
If you feel intimidated by atheists, remember: searching Scripture will make you grow stronger in your faith and understanding.
Stay Fit Spiritually: The Apostle Paul kept fit through exercise. He said, "Herein do I exercise myself, to always have a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16).
Listen to the voice of conscience. It's your friend, not your enemy.
Keep the Day of Judgment before your eyes. On that Day, you will be glad for the cultivation of a tender conscience.